Crisis-hit Peru gets new president, third in a week
- Francisco Sagasti chosen as Peru’s caretaker president after week of upheaval
- Thousands have protested impeachment of former president Martin Vizcarra
Peru’s Congress on Monday chose a 76-year-old former World Bank official as the South American country’s new president – the third in a roller coaster week of political upheaval.
Francisco Sagasti was elected as lawmakers met to try to move on from a crippling political crisis, sparked by the impeachment of a popular president and the resignation of his controversial successor amid protests that killed two people.
“I believe that Francisco Sagasti will respond to the expectations of the citizens,” Mirtha Vasquez, who was elected speaker of Congress in the same session, told reporters.
Sagasti, from the centrist Morado party, will serve as interim president until the end of July 2021, completing the mandate of Martin Vizcarra, whose impeachment by Congress last Monday set off a snowballing crisis.
The grey-bearded former engineer is no political veteran, however, having been elected to Congress only in March this year.
He was to be sworn in at a special congressional session on Tuesday.
